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W; R. MORSE.

BUCKLE.

APPLICATION FILED res. 11. I918.

Patented Sept. 23, 1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER R. MORSE, OF WATER'BURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOIL TO THE SHOE HARD-WARE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 23, 1919.

Application filed February 11, 1918. Serial Nazis-n58.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER R. MORSE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Waterbury, county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buckles, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to buckles, and more particularly to a novelmethod of forming and securing together the component parts of a buckle,and also to the buckle manufactured in. accordance with such method.

There have heretofore been used upon boots, shoes, arctics, and variousother articles, buckles formed of two stampings of sheet metal, andcomprising a socketed plate-member to which is hingedly secured ahook-shaped locking tongue. The platemember of such buckles iscustomarily formed at one end with three extensions or fingers suitablyspaced apart, the outer two fingers being provided with alined socketswhich receive the pintles of the locking tongue. The intermediatelydisposed finger acts as a spring and cooperates with a cam surface onthe locking tongue to hold the tongue in opened and closed positions.The sockets in the two outer fingers are formed by striking up a portionof the metal intermediate the length of the fingers and bending back theends of the fingers to overlie the recesses so formed. No provision hasheretofore been made for securin the bent back ends to the portions ofthe ngers lying therebeneath, the retention of the ends in place beingsolely dependent upon the strength of the metal at the point of bend.This feature is objectionable for in turning back the ends a sharp bendis made placing the particles of metal at the point of bend under verygreat strain, which is frequently so severe that the metal splits orcracks with the result that when the ends are subjected to theadditional strains caused by opening and closing the locking tongue,they often break off permitting the pintles of the tongue to fall out ofthe sockets, thus destroying the usefulness of the buckle. In order toguard against this disadvantage hi h grades of steel have been used, butthe difficulty has never been entirely overcome. It has consequentlybeen the practice to test each buckle by snapping the locking tongue toclosed and opened positions, which additional precaution however, hasnot resulted in the complete elimination of defective buckles, asfrequently the fracture at the point of bend does not manifest itselfuntil after the buckle has been in use for a long period of time. Theuse of high grade steel and the cost of labor required to perform thesnapping operations add greatly to the final cost of the buckle withoutentirely overcoming the liability of the buckle to break in service.

An object of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide animproved method whereby buckles free from the various disadvantageshereinbefore noted may be rapidly and economically manufactured.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a buckle ofgreat durability, simple construction, and inexpensive manu' facturewhich will withstand without breakage the strains encountered inservice.

Other objects of the invention will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings wherein some of the various possibleembodiments of the invention are shown:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a buckle constructed in accordancewith my invention, the locking tongue being shown in opened position.

Fig. 2 is a side view ofthe buckle illustrated in Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary views illustrating modified forms ofconstruction;

The buckle illustrated in the drawings comprises a plate-member 10 towhich is hingedly secured a hook-shaped locking tongue 11. Thepl2tl38111B11'1b61 and locking tongue are preferably made ofsheet steel,although it is to be understood that any suitable kind or grade of sheetmetal may be used for the purpose. One end of the platemember is formedwith an elongated eye 12 to provide a convenient means for attaching thebuckle to any suitable article, while the other end is provided withthree spaced fingers the outer two of which, 13, are

formed with sockets 14 which receive the pintles 15 of the lockingtongue. The sockas set forth they are integrally united to a portion ofthe metal lying therebeneath by brazing, soldering, welding, or othersuitable means. Any desired method of welding may be used preferably,however, the electric welding method is employed by which term I meanthe well-known method in which the work is brought to the weldingtemperature by the internal heat generated by the resistance of the workto the passage of electric current at the place of contact between theparts to be joined by the welding pressure.

I11 Fig. 1 of the drawings the ends of the fingers are shown united toportions of the metal lying therebeneath by a line weld 18 extendinglongitudinally of the fingers and along the outer margins thereof. InFig. 3 the weld 19 is shown extending transversely across the finger andlongitudinally along the outer margin thereof. In Fig. 4 the weld 20extends transverselyacross the finger. Although I have illustrated someof the various forms of welds which may be used, it is to be understoodthat the form and position of the weld may be greatly varied within thescope of the invention.

It is also to be understood that the sockets may be formed in variousother ways than that set forth, for example, the fingers may be madewith laterally extending portions adapted to be bent over to cover therecesses, or separate pieces of metal may be placed over the recessesand held in place by weld ing. In certain types of construction therecesses may be formed in the bent over portions of metal or both thebent over portions of metal and the portions lying therebeneath may beprovided with registering recesses. In the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in the drawing the recesses are shown disposed inwardly fromthe point of bend, which construction renders the strength of thesockets totally independent of the strength of the metal at the point ofbend. If desired, however, the sockets may be formed at the point ofbend in the usual and well-known manner.

The locking tongue 11 of the buckle consists of a hook-shaped stampingof metal and is provided with integrally formed ears or pintle pins 15which fit into the sockets 14 of the plate-member 10 providing a hingeconnection between the parts. The pintles are arranged inwardly from thebill of the hook and the portion of metal 21 lying therebeyond serves asa cam which cooperates with the resilient finger 22 formed on theplate-member intermediate the two socketed fingers 13 to hold the tonguein opened and closed position.

By my invention I am enabled to produce a more durable and satisfactorybuckle than has heretofore been known. I am also enabled to produce suchbuckles at a lower cost than that of the previously known buckles byreason of the fact that less expensive grades of metal-maybe used, andthe costly snapping operations are entirely dispensed with.

While I have described some of the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that various modifications in form,material and arrangement may be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

A buckle comprising a tongue portion having pintles and a cam plate, anda metal body portion formed of a single sheet and bifurcated ends formedof double sheets havingportions spaced to form sockets for the retentionof said pintles the upper sheets of said ends being integral with thebody portion and'the lower sheets forming bearing surfaces for saidpintles, and a spring plate above said cam and integral with the bodyportion adapted for spring pressed engagement with said cam, the saidlower sheets being firmly united with the upper sheets throughout aportion of their surfaces to the rear of the free ends of said uppersheets for preventing separation of the sheets and for transmitting thepressure from the spring to said upper sheets when the tongue functions.

Signed at WVaterbury, Connecticut, this thirty-first day of January,1918.

WALTER R. MORSE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, I). 0.

